Conquer, the Queensland goldfish, has just had emergency surgery to remove a pebble he accidentally swallowed.
Brisbane Bird and Exotics Veterinary Services has put details up on its Facebook page of this unique – and quite costly – surgery. Little Conquer also had to have an anaesthetic.
After determining something “fishy” was going on (OK, bad joke), the fish was taken into emergency surgey. According to a report on Buzzfeed, they dripped an anaesthetic agent in the water that put the fish to sleep. Then, they inserted tiny instruments into his mouth and slowly pulled out the rock.
The vet posted this on Facebook: “[A] big pebble for a little goldfish to try to eat!”
They pulled a 13-gram pebble from the fish’s mouth and the he was placed in a recovery tank that contained clean water and went home the next day.
The procedure cost $500 – Conquer apparently cost about $12 from the local pet store. The vet commended the fish’s owner for taking such caring action. “Most people wouldn’t bat an eyelid spending this money on a dog, cat or child,” a spokesperson told Buzzfeed, “so why would we value our beautiful exotic pets any less.”
Here are a few pictures the vet surgery took of this intricate procedure:
And then Conquer was transferred to his special recovery tank before heading home to swim another day.
